Ok a friend and I are having a bit of an argument about my new Dell Vostro 1500 laptops graphics card. The card is described as 256MB 8600M GT with dedicated memory, now thats the definition of a dedicated graphics chip right? Integrated is when the card uses ram memory. He's just overwhelmed with jealousy he's trying to make me feel like i have a crappy computer.

haha I knew there was a reason that this is my favorite tech forum! I did a little research the definition of a dedicated graphics card is that it has it's own memory chip thats separated from the RAM, but sometime the video chip is integrated into the board inside the laptop i think thats what he was trying to get across to me, along with insinuating that the laptop sucks haha. Also I found out it has an integrated RAM DAC I'm not sure what that means but in any case the card is at least as good as a desktop 7900GT and certainly better then my friends ATI 9800Pro

n modern PCs, the RAMDAC(s) are integrated into the display controller chip, which itself may be mounted on an add-in-board or integrated into the motherboard core-logic chipset. The original purpose of the RAMDAC, to provide a CLUT-based display-mode, is rarely used, having been supplanted by true-color display-modes. However, many CAD and video editing applications use hardware overlay, combined with the programmable palette, to ensure the user interface does not disrupt the rendering of editing window.

As the use of DVI, HDMI, and other digital interface technology becomes increasingly mainstream, the "DAC" portion of the RAMDAC will likely become obsolete.

Ah well thats close enough for me, my desktop only has a 7800GT, but I really like having the mobility of a laptop and being able to play games on high quality if I want to.

And correction my friend has an X1300 ATI card lol

But I've seen RAMDAC on other card specs but i didn't know whether there was integrated and dedicated RAMDAC or not, i know almost nothing about laptop components but all I know is that it'll play the games coming out with directX 10 and thats all i need to know